Murphy should get full term, despite strong challenge

Elected as the country was in the throes of a recession, Rep. Scott Murphy had to make some big, tough decisions and has represented his district well in his short time in office.

He should be given a chance to serve a full two-year term, having first been sent to Congress following a close special election in March 2009 after Kirsten Gillibrand vacated that seat to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Murphy, a Democrat from Glens Falls, is facing a formidable challenge from Republican Chris Gibson of Kinderhook.

These are two quality candidates. Frankly, voters in the 20th Congressional District, which includes northern Dutchess County, should be grateful they have such excellent choices.

Before being elected to Congress, Murphy was a successful businessman, a venture capitalist and New York managing director for Advantage Capital Partners.

Over the course of a nearly quarter-century of service in the Army, Gibson rose to the rank of colonel and was deployed seven times, including four combat tours to Iraq.

A recent Journal editorial board meeting with the candidates was revealing and profoundly issue-oriented, with Gibson and Murphy getting into a sophisticated level of discussion on everything from how best to help the economy to questions about the new health-care reform law. That meeting is available for viewing on our website, and we urge readers to watch it and review other campaign-related material.

Murphy touts his support for a good law that should aid small businesses by cutting capital gains taxes for startups and offering incentives to businesses purchasing equipment and investing in expansion. Gibson has been critical of Murphy's approaches to economic policies, including this particular bill, but, in the editorial board meeting, he reversed course and said he would have supported this initiative. He later said he didn't properly communicate his position on this bill to his staff handling media inquiries.

The two candidates have major disagreements over health-care reform and whether the U.S. Department of Education should exist at all.

Gibson believes the health-care law should be repealed and that the U.S. Department of Education should be abolished. While these may make for provocative campaign slogans, neither is likely to occur, nor should they occur.

Murphy voted for the health-care law, explaining that it means tens of millions of Americans will finally get coverage and maintaining that, in the long run, there will be a net reduction in the federal deficit over time. Murphy concedes, however, that the bill was far from perfect and, in fact, he has fought to eliminate one provision requiring businesses to file information returns for transactions involving as little as $600. Even the Internal Revenue Service says that provision is essentially unenforceable, Murphy observes.

Gibson says aspects of the health-care law, such as barring insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, are good but that, on balance, the law is not salvageable and will cost too much.

He also says, correctly, that the reform lacked important features such as tort reform and allowing individuals/families to purchase health insurance from out-of-state providers.

But Murphy points out that many of the changes haven't kicked in yet, saying the country should wait and make any necessary improvements as it goes. This is the more measured, pragmatic approach.

Murphy also says while he is not against streamlining the federal education department, he believes the department is necessary to strengthen national testing standards and to provide money for states and school districts to carry out "Race to the Top" and other school-reform efforts.

The candidates also have differences about to what degree the Bush tax cuts should be extended. Murphy says those tax cuts should expire for families making more than $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $200,000, as President Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership have suggested. Democrats point out that tax rates on those higher-income tax brackets would revert to where they were during the Clinton administration, when the economy was thriving. Murphy added that it would cost an additional $700 billion over the next decade to fully extend the tax cuts, and the country is already in debt and simply can't afford it.

But Murphy should keep in mind the proposed cutoff would disproportionately hurt residents in the New York area, where salaries are typically higher, but so is the cost of living compared to, say, the Midwest.

Pushing for a plan that keeps more New York families from having their income taxes rise certainly makes sense, even if the cuts on the wealthiest Americans expire.

Gibson says raising taxes on anyone including all high-income earners will hinder job-growth efforts and is no way to lower the unemployment rate in this country. And he makes a great point that, rather than voting with the House leadership to adjourn, Murphy should have taken the principled stand for Congress to stay and work out the tax issue before Election Day. Economic uncertainty is, after all, one of the biggest impediments to job growth.

Overall, though, Murphy has demonstrated he is a fighter for the district, on jobs and many other issues. He has pushed bills that would eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, citing IBM's downsizing in Dutchess County as a major concern. He also has led the charge for more funding to expand broadband capacities throughout the Hudson Valley, something that is truly needed in a high-tech-driven economy.

Murphy has made a solid mark in a short time, and voters should give him the support to continue his work.

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Murphy should get full term, despite strong challenge

Elected as the country was in the throes of a recession, Rep. Scott Murphy had to make some big, tough decisions and has represented his district well in his short time in office.He should be given a